Briefs | Auction benefits Autism Society

The St. Julien Hotel will host the 7th Annual Wine & Cheese Tasting and Silent Auction benefiting the Autism Society of Boulder County on Friday, April 16, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The wine and cheese tasting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and the silent auction will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

KBCO’s Bret Saunders will serve as guest emcee.

Tickets are $30 and are available online at www.autismboulder.org/winetasting.html.

Boulder 3rd for bikes

Bicycling magazine has named Boulder as the third-most bikefriendly city in the nation.

Minneapolis and Portland were ranked first and second, respectively. Boulder was ranked above Seattle and Eugene, Ore., which rounded out the top five.

The magazine notes that 95 percent of Boulder’s major streets are bike-friendly, that there are 120 miles of trails surrounding the city and that it is home to many top professional racers.

To compile the list, Bicycling editors strove for geographical diversity and considered cities with populations of at least 100,000. They weighed factors like numbers of bike routes, bike racks, bike commuters, cycling clubs and events, and renowned bike shops. They also used the Bicycling and Walking in the United States 2010 Benchmarking Report from the Alliance for Biking and Walking, the League of American Bicyclists; Bicycle Friendly America project, and interviews.

Boulder was also nominated for a “Best City for Cyclists” distinction as part of Treehugger’s Best of Green 2010 Readers Choice Awards.

Commuters of the year

GO Boulder/City of Boulder has announced the winners of the 14th Annual Commuter of the Year awards.

The 2010 All Around Commuters are the Paddock Family ( Julie, Randy, Christine, Rachel and Tim). The Bicycling Commuter of the Year is Dave Metge, and the Transit Commuter of the year is Tamara Crandall.

The Paddocks commute all around Boulder County by bus, bike, foot and carpool (and car, when necessary). Julie Paddock was encouraged to nominate her family for this award after the Paddocks successfully completed the second summer of their family’s personal challenge to bus, bike, walk and carpool — and to not fill their family mini-van with gas for eight weeks.

Metge, a microbiologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been commuting to and from work by bike for 20 years. His commute from his home in Lafayette to the USGS in Boulder is a 23-mile round trip.

Crandall, a University of Colorado payroll and benefits counselor, uses the Eco Pass provided by her employer to take the bus to work from her home in Westminster. Tamara has also volunteered to work at the university’s Anschutz Medical Center one day a week because she can easily take the bus there as well.

Dandelion Fest blooms

Instead of battling persistent dandelions this year, why not harvest them, toss them in a salad, or knot them in a chain and wear them to the Dandelion Festival on Saturday, April 24?

The event, which will be held at the bandshell on Broadway and Canyon from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., is sponsored by the Citizens for Pesticide Reform, a branch of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, to celebrate the dandelion as a symbol of a healthy and safe environment.

There will be talks and classes on a variety of topics, from gardening without chemicals to the uses of local plants. The festival sponsors and vendors will be offering dandelion treats, samples and door prizes. Musical entertainment will be provided by Kimmerjae Johnson, Harper Phillips and the duo Choosing June.

More information is available at www.pesticideboulder.com.

Senior fishing derby

Boulder and Broomfield County seniors (64 years and older) are invited to participate in Boulder County’s annual fishing derby on Saturday, April 24, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Wally Toevs Pond (at Walden Ponds on 75th Street between Jay Road and Valmont). After the fishing derby, awards will be given for the heaviest trout, the most experienced (oldest) angler and the best hat.
There will also be a fish-fry picnic following the derby.

The pond is stocked with
rainbow trout. Both artificial and live bait are permitted at the Wally
Toevs Pond. Participants must have a valid Colorado fishing license.

For more information,
contact Michael Bauer at 303-678-6219.

County seeks volunteers

The Boulder
County Parks & Open Space Department is looking for volunteer park
patrollers and volunteers for the Walker Ranch Homestead.

Park patrollers
provide park visitors with information about the cultural and natural
history of parks, recreational opportunities, facilities and
regulations.

Volunteers
who are anglers can support the parks they enjoy while fishing, being a
uniformed presence and answering questions from visitors about bait and
bag limits.

Park
patrollers keep visitors updated about current resource management
issues and answer visitor’s questions about the parks. They are invited
to special events and trainings.

Free training will be held on two Saturdays, May 16
and May 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The application deadline for
upcoming sessions is May 2. To find out more, contact Michael Bauer at mbauer@bouldercounty.org or
303-678-6219.

At
the Walker Ranch Homestead, volunteers dress in clothing styles of the
late 1800s and demonstrate daily chores of a working Western ranch,
including cooking on a wood-burning stove, churning butter, making roof
shingles and doing laundry with a scrub board, wringer & tub.
Historical interpreters participate in special public events at the
homestead several times a year. There are also opportunities to help with special
presentations for school groups that visit the ranch on field trips.

The next training will
take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 1–2, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Applications are due April 23. For an application or more information,
call 303-776-8848.

‘Recycle
the Runway’

A “Recycle the Runway”
competition will be held on Macy’s Plaza at Twenty Ninth Street Mall in
Boulder at 1 p.m. on April 24.

Three local
eco-designers will attempt to win the eco-competition using just old
newspapers, soda can rings and a variety of other items typically found
in the recycling bin. The three contestants will set out to transform
flotsam into high fashion in just one hour.

The first-prize winner will receive a $500
gift card to Twenty Ninth Street and have his/her work on display at
the center for at least one week following the contest. Runner-ups will
each receive a $50 gift card.

King to sign book

Lawrence J. King
will be signing his new book, Hate and Discrimination in America, at
Saxy’s Café in Boulder on April 24 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

King’s message in the
book is tolerance, co-existence and compassion towards others, for the
sake of a better world. He shows how various groups and individuals are
being discriminated against because of a label that some people in
society are putting on others, causing them to fall short of the
American Dream.

In
addition to his new book, King was recently cast in a minor role with
GraceMar Entertainment’s new feature film, Niwot’s Curse.

Saxy’s is located at 2018
10th St.

Erie to
clean up

On Saturday, May 1, the
Erie Department of Public Works will be hosting its fifth annual Spring
Clean Up event at the Denver Regional Landfill, located at 1441 Weld
County Road 6 in Erie.

Hours of operation
will be from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. During the event, residents may dispose of
any large household items as well as tree limbs or other yard waste
free of charge.

All
loads must be covered and must be level with the bed of the truck or
trailer. Construction materials such as roofing shingles, concrete and
framing materials could be subject to charges. Hazardous materials such
as refrigerators, car batteries, tires and paint will not be accepted.

The entrance to the
Denver Regional Landfill is located on Weld County Road 5, just south of
Weld County Road 6. Signs will be in place to indicate the entrance.

Residents must show
either a Town of Erie water bill or a driver’s license with an Erie
address as proof of residency.